AdWeek: AdFreak

Sir Paul McCartney Loves His New Wife…and JBL Equipment

Tim Nudd — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:09:59 +0000

Two of this week's big themes—love and music—come together in this Doner commercial for JBL starring none other than Sir Paul McCartney. The former Beatle recently married again and wrote a song called "My Valentine" for his new wife. The song is featured in the JBL spot, which will break Sunday during the Grammy Awards, two days before Valentine's Day. "JBL is synonymous with great sound and has consistently met the standards for my music," McCartney says. "I've used JBL's professional equipment throughout my career as a recording artist and touring musician. I want my fans to 'hear the truth,' and that's what JBL delivers." So, is that Nancy Shevell lying in bed in the spot? We're guessing no. A print and online campaign for JBL will follow. JBL will also be a sponsor of McCartney's upcoming summer tour. "My Valentine" is the first single from Sir Paul's new album, Kisses on the Bottom, which was released this week.

Clothing Brand Helps You Love the One You're Not With

David Griner — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:58:37 +0000

If your idea of a great Valentine's Day gift is passionate sex with someone other than the person you're actually dating, then Moosejaw Mountaineering has got your back. The quirky clothing retailer has created a permission slip (link goes to a PDF) that asks your loved one to officially endorse your fling with someone else. The form, offered up today to Facebook fans, begins with a description of how nature's notoriously promiscuous bonobo apes use sex to alleviate social conflict. "With that beautiful spirit in mind," the form says, "I'd like to ask you something." Applicants can request permission to "snuggle," "French," or "fully do it" with a person "you know that I've always loved." It's quite a touching gesture, one that harkens back to the brand's previous attempt at relationship support: "The Moosejaw Breakup Service." They also created an X-ray specs app that helps you view Moosejaw catalog models in their underwear. Obviously, Moosejaw's marketing research has found there's intrinsic value in keeping its customers unattached and oversexed.

Ben Stein Is Pissed He Wasn't in Honda's Ferris Bueller Ad

Tim Nudd — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:34:07 +0000

Ben Stein would have enjoyed Honda's Ferris Bueller ad for the Super Bowl, if it hadn't disrespected him so badly. "They had a guy imitating my voice, they should've had me in it," Stein tells one of the goons from TMZ upon being ambushed at an airport. Frankly, if RPA passed on having Alan Ruck (aka Cameron) appear in the spot, there wasn't much chance for Stein—even though a bellhop in the ad (above) does imitate Stein's teacher character from the movie by droning "Broderick? Broderick?" Asked if he feels disrespected, Stein replies, "A little bit, yeah." He actually says he liked the spot, but adds: "Just my humble opinion, but since they used my voice ... they should give me a top-of-the-line Toyota … I mean, Honda!" At least he remembered the brand—barely.

video platform video management video solutions video player

Courtney Stodden Stars in Worst Ad of 2012 So Far

David Kiefaber — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:04:15 +0000

[Note: This is not a real FreeCreditScore.com ad. See update below.]
Jezebel's writers can be a little overly sensitive, but they're right to heap abuse on this Courtney Stodden ad for freecreditreport.com, because it's just aggressively stupid. The "I'm so wet" line makes no sense, which the article points out. Plus, how do you even catch a mermaid with a fish hook. Plus, Stodden doesn't turn 18 until August, meaning the natural reaction male viewers might have is still technically a felony. That didn't stop her chickenhawk husband, of course (incidentally, he was the weaselly prison guard in The Green Mile), but it still sent a horrible douche chill up my spine. This ad makes GoDaddy look upscale.
UPDATE: FreeCreditScore.com tells AdFreak in a statement: "Ms. Stodden's video is a parody on an assignment that FreeCreditScore.com initiated with PopTent. While we appreciate Ms. Stodden's enthusiasm and interpretation of the assignment, FreeCreditScore.com had no involvement in the creation or funding of her video, nor was her video approved by FreeCreditScore.com."

Cycle of Life: Resetting L.A.'s Smoking Deaths Billboard

David Gianatasio — David Gianatasio

Ushering in the new year at the Smoking Deaths billboard above Santa Monica Boulevard in West L.A. has become a somewhat morbid yet surprisingly meaningful tradition. Each year, just before midnight on Jan. 1, locals gather to watch as the numbers, which tally the nation's annual smoking-related deaths, are manually reset to zero. Onlookers aren't necessarily drawn by personal ties to smoking or cancer. A mixture of curiosity, camaraderie and community compel most to make the scene. Gideon Brower, in an affecting piece in the L.A. Times, describes the scene this past New Year's Eve: "About 30 celebrants … watched as the huge counter on the billboard slowly turned from 420,127 to six brightly lit zeros, and then to one zero. Some people cheered. The mood was light. Even the sign seemed to join the party: For this brief moment, there was not one smoking death in America. And then, inevitably, the counter turned over. One death. Then two. Then three. After that, people walked home or drove away. … By the time I left, the death toll was up to 18." The West L.A. gathering is infinitely more intimate, poignant and real than the the bombastic, mass-media-driven ball drop in Times Square. The life-and-death nature of the sign's message seems especially in tune to the trials, terrors and hard-won triumphs of daily existence. In the 60 seconds or so before the Smoking Deaths billboard begins its countdown anew, onlookers collectively exhale, sharing a renewed determination to press on. Photo by Gideon Brower.

James Franco Tries Advertising, Directs Spots for Seven Jeans

Gabriel Beltrone — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:21:31 +0000

Oh look, James Franco is doing something new with a camera. The actor, etc., is adding adman to his already-crowded resume by directing a series of 10 spots for designer jeans maker 7 For All Mankind (a brand also known simply as Seven). The brand won't start trickling out the clips on YouTube until Feb. 15. But it's teasing the campaign—in which Franco collaborated with Seven's creative agency, Lipman—with a lengthy breakdown in WWD and the behind-the-scenes video below, starring the back of Franco's head and the army of gyrating, scantily clad girls that's obligatory to all fashion ads. It's not seedy, see, 'cause it's art, too—the clips are all cut from retro-stylized footage for a Franco-directed feature film, The Death of Natalie Wood, which WWD reports is a creative offspring of the James Dean classic Rebel Without a Cause. Ah yes, that strange, atmospheric brew of celebrity-endorsed artsy-naked cool, with overtones of generational angst, freedom and mortality. We can't wait.

Grainy Footage Reveals Draftfcb's Unorthodox Training Methods

Tim Nudd — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:02:42 +0000

Long has it been wondered: Where do Draftfcb creatives get their ideas? And how are Draftfcb account people so adept at dealing with clients? Thanks to the two videos below, we have our answers. It seems the creative process involves placing staffers in a "centrifuge for ideas" and extracting their insights in liquid form, before sending the workers back—wobbly but unharmed—to the creative department. The account folks have it even rougher. They're forced to scale and balance a giant, rickety, unstable "testing apparatus that simulates the client-agency relationship." You're always one wrong move from toppling the whole damn thing, but this is how you learn, though! The videos, using hilarious old '60s footage, were created for a staff town-hall meeting at Draftfcb Chicago in January, designed to humorously acknowledge the agency's roots in science but champion its current focus on talent and creativity.

Doritos Pays Double to 'Crash the Super Bowl' Winners

Tim Nudd — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:14:22 +0000

Doritos is getting used to shelling out money to the amateurs in its Crash the Super Bowl contest. Last year, J.R. Burningham won $1 million after his "Pug Attack" topped the USA Today Ad Meter. This year, not one but two Doritos directors will each pocket $1 million—following USA Today's decision to split the Ad Meter into two separate rankings. Jonathan Friedman of Virginia Beach, Va., wins $1 million for his "Man's Best Friend" spot, which was the favorite of the traditional Ad Meter panel of 286 adult volunteers on Sunday night. And Kevin Willson of West Los Angeles wins $1 million for "Sling Baby," which won the Ad Meter's broader social media vote, which wrapped up on Tuesday. Wilson, a 34-year-old former special education teacher, entered the contest twice before. "In high school I'd get out of doing papers by asking if I could do videos instead," he tells USA Today. "I was one of those weird kids in high school who figured out that I wanted to make videos for the rest of my life." Now, he'll have a chance to upgrade his workspace, at least, after working mostly in his garage. "It's freezing in there in the winter, and it's dusty," he says. "It's not a great working environment."

Was This the Best Movie Poster of 2011?

David Kiefaber — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:38:36 +0000

Online film magazine Notebook's picks for the best movie posters of 2011 make for an interesting list. Most of them are for movies I've never heard of, but that's due to the international focus more than pretentiousness, I think. Chris Ware's poster for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (full image after the jump) tops the list. Melancholia's poster is boring, but Burning Man is really neat. And Super has a Burnt Face Man feel to it that I like. And while I wasn't a huge fan of the Drive poster, it is refreshing to see a picture of Ryan Gosling without that "hey girl" crap all over it. Via Kottke.

In Britain, Bus Shelter Ads Smell Like Delicious Baked Potatoes

David Gianatasio — David Gianatasio

Ah, the complex olfactory bouquet of the urban bus shelter. Trying to identify individual odors within such dense scent tapestries can be difficult, and most disturbing. That's not the case, however, at some locations in British cities like London and Manchester, where McCain Foods is installing 3-D ad panels that emit the aroma of freshly baked potatoes at the push of a button. Check out the picture. That "potato" looks like a big buttocks to me, but who am I to argue if those barmy Brits want to cop a feel or smear on some sour cream and chives? (Don't be so provincial, people!) McCain says "a hidden heating element gently warms the potato," so I suppose we'll soon be reading about one of those bus stops catching fire and roasting a few soul-crushed commuters in their own jackets. Actually, I kind of like the concept. And while we've seen some things like this in America, we could use more of it. That way, when I'm waiting for the bus and someone asks, "What's that weird smell?" for once I can honestly answer, "Not me!"